Jake Gyllenhaal In Talks To Play the Next ‘Spider-Man’ Villain

Jake Gyllenhaal is finally getting his chance to join the Spider-Man universe, but not as the web-slinger. Though the actor was famously inches away from taking over the Spider-Man(tle) when he almost replaced Tobey Maguire back in the day, Gyllenhaal is getting a chance to play the baddie this time.

Rumors first surfaced on British tabloids early Monday morning that Gyllenhaal would be joining the Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel, and now we’ve got more details. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the actor is in talks to join the sequel as the villain. The word is Gyllenhaal would be playing Mysterio in the next film, which we know will be set in London.

The character was first introduced in 1964’s The Amazing Spider-Man #13. The original Mysterio was Quentin Black, a special-effects wizard and Hollywood stuntman who later used those skills to become a supervillain. We’ve never met Mysterio in the Spider-Man films, but storyboards for a fourth Sam Rami film revealed there were plans to possibly reveal Bruce Campbell as the iconic villain.

There’s also a chance this news means we’ll be seeing even more of Gyllenhaal in Sony and Marvel’s Spidey universe. Last year, Sony head Tom Rothman teased new projects centered on Mysterio, as well as Kraven the Hunter, suggesting solo movies for each may be in store. A Mysterio solo movie à la Venom will probably depend on the reaction to the character in the Spider-Man sequel first. But who knew last year’s not-Venom-prequel Life would actually end up connecting to the Spider-verse after all?